Consumers Union wants digital TV transition postponed

The nation's leading advocacy group for consumers says television watchers need more time to prepare for the digital transition, which is scheduled for February 17. That's the last day of analog transmission for full-power TV signals. The Consumers Union has asked Congress to consider pushing back the date, at least until "a plan is in place to minimize the number of consumers who will lose TV signals."

"With February 17 only forty days away, we are concerned that millions of at-risk consumers, including rural, low-income and elderly citizens across the country could be left with blank television screens," CU's Joel Kelsey and Christopher Murray wrote to the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday. "Consumers have fewer resources than ever to buy the necessary equipment to regain access to essential news, information and emergency broadcasts."

The letter notes that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has run out of cash to fund its analog TV converter program. Until this week the NTIA was handing out coupons good for $40 towards set-top boxes that make analog TVs digital-ready. But in December, the agency warned Representative Edward Markey (D-MA), who chairs the committee's subcommittee on telecommunications, that it would "fully obligate" the $1.34 billion allocated for the program around this week.

Applicants who go to the DTV coupon program Web site are now told that it has reached its "funding ceiling" and they will be put on a waiting list.

"The federal government will receive over $19 billion as a result of the DTV spectrum auction," CU says. "Millions of consumers could now be forced to spend their own money to navigate this federally mandated transition. This economic climate is not the right time to ask consumers to dig deeper into their own pockets to pay for the miscalculation by the federal government."

The group also charges that the government has not done enough to educate consumers about the transition. Although the Federal Communications Commission announced this week that it was funding twelve grassroots organizations to do DTV outreach to seniors, Spanish speakers, and people with disabilities, CU says the investment pales compared to those made by other countries.

"The United Kingdom is spending close to $400 million to educate a population one-fifth the size of the U.S. about its digital broadcast transition," the letter notes, and also worries that the consumer help desk system the FCC has set up for February 17 may not be able to handle the thousands of calls the agency expects to field.

In December, FCC Chair Kevin Martin told Markey that the Commission will spend $10 million for its call center and various outsourced operations. The in-house center will be able to handle 12,000 calls a day using a staff of 2,300 call handlers, Martin said. The outside operations should be able to field about 350,000 calls a day from February 15 through February 21, Martin estimates.

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Matthew Lasar / Matt writes for Ars Technica about media/technology history, intellectual property, the FCC, or the Internet in general. He teaches United States history and politics at the University of California at Santa Cruz.